Oh, in relation to the found dog post.  If you are in California the
vets there are permitted to give medical care to ferrets, and there are
vet listings in two of the major CA websites and in some of the general
listings.  You can find them in the Critical References at
http://www.ferretcongress.org .  If they don't have their canine
distemper and rabies vaccines you'll want to attend to that, and
certainly it is good to know that they can have care.  You may have
already done this and I may just have been confused by the part about
them never leaving home, of course.
[Posted in FML issue 4133]